Brick regrouping method

ABSTRACT

Bricks arranged in a plurality of stacks on kiln cars in doublelayer courses having a prescribed number of bricks in each row and column are first transferred to an intermediate table by means of a first, side gripper pickup head. The side gripper pickup head includes several pair of gripper members which grip the bricks at the ends of the rows thereof and compact the rows in preparation for the first head to lift and transfer the bricks to the intermediate table. A second, end gripper pickup head includes several pairs of gripper segments, movable with respect to each other, to grip the bricks at the ends of the columns, lift and adjust the row-wise spacing therein to arrange the bricks into courses having a different number of bricks in the rows thereof than the courses on the kiln cars. The second pickup head then transfers the bricks held therein to an off-bearing conveyor leading to a stacking and strapping station.

Unite States extent [191 Stuart et al.

[ BRICK REGROUPING METHOD [76] Inventors: Gerald L. Stuart, HomewoodAcres; Forrest A. Paschal, 418 W. Dolphin St,, both of Siler City, NC.27344 22 Filed: Nov. 28, 1973 [21] App]. No.: 419,888

Related U.S. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 276,031, July28, I972, Pat. No.

Primary Examiner-Robert J. Spar Assistant ExaminerGeorge F. Abraham Jan.14, 1975 [57] ABSTRACT Bricks arranged in a plurality of stacks on kilncars in double-layer courses having a prescribed number of bricks ineach row and column are first transferred to an intermediate table bymeans of a first, side gripper pickup head. The side gripper pickup headincludes several pair of gripper members which grip the bricks at theends of the rows thereof and compact the rows in preparation for thefirst head to lift and transfer the bricks to the intermediate table. Asecond, end gripper pickup head includes several pairs of grippersegments, movable with respect to each other, to grip the bricks at theends of the columns, lift and adjust the row-wise spacing therein toarrange the bricks into courses having a different number of bricks inthe rows thereof than the courses on the kiln cars. The second pickuphead then transfers the bricks held therein to an off-bearing conveyorleading to a stacking and strapping station.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures BRICK REGROUPING METHOD This application isa division of application Ser. No. 276,031, filed July 28, 1972, whichhas matured into US. Pat. No. 3,776,398.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In accordance with conventional practices,bricks are arranged for firing on kiln cars in a plurality of stacks,two or three stacks across the width of the kiln car and two-four stacksalong the length thereof. The number of stacks may vary depending on thethe size of the kiln car, and each stack includes a plurality ofdouble-layer courses, each successive course having the headers thereoffacing perpendicular to the headers of the preceding course. Each coursecomprises a plurality of rows and columns, with the bricks in eachcolumn arranged end to end, and the bricks in the rows being spacedapart from side to side.

The courses on the kiln car do not generally correspond to the coursesin the final strapped package as far as the number of bricks in each rowis concerned. Therefore, the courses cannot be removed from the kiln carand stacked atop each other toform the package because of the differencein the number of bricks in each row. It is also true that the number ofbricks in each column on the kiln car is not'the same as the number ofbricks in each columnof the finished'package, however this is immaterialas the stacker" receives bricks continuously fed in lengthwiseofthecolumns and forms the bricks into one long continuous package,which issubsequently cutoff to desired lengths in a well known manner.

Regrouping of the bricks from the kiln car into courses having rows ofproper number for the final package does presenta problem, however,which has been solved previously by completely breakingdown the coursesfrom the kiln car into single rows on an off bearing conveyor, movingthe bricks in singlefile along the conveyor and regrouping by somemechanism at the end of the conveyor into rows of the proper length,said rows being reformed into coursesand stacked in the final package.It is quite obvious that this procedure requires extra operations, isthus slower and more expensive.

SUMMARY OF Tl-IE PRESENT'INVENTION In accordance with the presentinvention, there is provided an apparatus which includes the combinationof a first side gripper head and a second end gripper head. The first,side gripper head includes aplurality of gripper members which pick upthe uppermost course from each of several stacks on the kiln carsimulta-.

neously, and transfer them to an intermediate table while closingthespaces between thebricks in each row, yet leaving the spaces betweenadjacent courses.

The second, end gripper head includes a plurality of pairs ofgrippersegrnents, laterally movable with respect to each other, whichgrip the bricks on the ends or headers of the bricks in the coursesdeposited upon the table, lift the bricks, and deposit themon anoffbearing conveyor. During the transfer and as the bricks are heldtherebetween the gripper segments are moved laterally to rearrange thecourses so that the rows thereof have a prescribed number of brickstherein. The off-bearing conveyor then carries the bricks to a stackingand strapping station already formed in courses rather than rows. Thebricks are thereby regrouped from courses on the kiln car having aprescribed number of bricks in each row to courses on the off-bearingconveyor having the correct number of bricks in each row for thefinalpackaging operation.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide animproved method and apparatus for transferring bricks from a kiln car toa stacking and strapping station more economically and withoutcompletely breaking down the courses from the kiln can.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method andapparatus for transferring bricks from a kiln car to a conveyor leadingto a stacking and strapping machine and simultaneously regrouping thecourses of one row length on the kiln car into courses of proper rowlength for the final package.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a methodand apparatus of the type described wherein the uppermost courses onseveral stacks of the kiln car are transferred to an intermediate tablewith the rows in each course compacted, then transferred to anoff-bearing conveyor with simultaneous regrouping into courses havingrows of proper length for stacking andstrapping into the final package.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent upon reading thefollowing detailed description of a preferred embodiment of theinvention, along with an inspection of the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the apparatus according to the presentinvention with the side gripper mechanism (shown in phantom lines)positioned above one end of the kiln car and the end gripper mechanism(phantom lines) positioned above the intermediate table;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the apparatus illustratedin FIG. 1;and

FIG Sis a perspective view of the end-gripper apparatus alone.

Turning now to the drawings, and particularly FIGS. land 2, it isconventional practice in the brick making industry to position bricks onkiln cars K for firing in thekiln. As described hereinabove, the bricksare conventionally stacked-on the kiln cars in a plurality of stacks S,the number of stacks S depending on the size of the kiln car K. Eachstack S includes a plurality of double-layer courses stacked one atopeach other with the headers of successive courses facing in a directionperpendicular to the headers of the courses above and below in order toachieve more even distribution of the heat over each brick. Each courseor each layer thereof comprise a plurality of rows R of bricks spacedsidewise from each other and also arranged in columns C with the bricksthereof generally abutting in end to end relationship.

Kiln cars K are initially moved to a receiving position beneath one endof a frame 10 which in turn comprises upstanding corner columns l2, 14supporting an upper horizontal frame 16 extending from a point overlyingkiln car K to a point at the other end above an offbearing conveyor 38.An intermediate table 28 is supported in any well known mannerintermediate the ends of frame 16 for reasons to be hereinafterdiscussed.

A carriage 18 having wheels 20 is movably mounted on opposite sidemembers of frame 16. A motor 22 connected to one axle 19 of carriage l8selectively drives carriage 18 back and forth in a horizontal pathbetween a first position where one end of the carriage overlies thereceiving position and a second position where the same end of thecarriage overlies intermediate table 28.

A first pickup head or side gripper head 24 is suspended from carriage18 at the first end by means of a hydraulic cylinder 26 or other similarmeans for reciprocating head 24 in a vertical path between an upperposition, and one of several lower pickup or release positions. Soarranged first pickup head 24 is adapted to picking up one or moredouble-layer courses of brick from kiln car K and deposit them at theintermediate table 28. Such a pickup head is described in detail in US.Letters Pat. No. 3,669,283, issued June 13, I972 and assigned to theassignee of the present application, except that said patent shows apickup head for lifting courses from only one stack at a time. Thepresent application utilizes a pickup head in which a plurality ofgripper pairs lift bricks from one, two, three or any number of stackssimultaneously. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, eight courses arelifted from kiln car K and transferred simultaneously. The uppermostdouble-layer course is removed from each stack simultaneously as thefirst pickup head 24 grips the bricks along opposite sides of eachcourse (against the ends of rows R) and transfers the courses removedfollowing planar reorientation of alternate ones and longitudinalcompacting of the rows R in each, and places the courses on theintermediate table 28.

The loaded kiln cars K supporting the stacks are moved alongconventional tracks (not shown) to the position beneath one end of frame10, where the car is halted while a first group of stacks beneath thefirst pickup head 24 are removed therefrom. Kiln car K is then indexedforwardly for a portion of its length, passing beneath the receivingstation whereby the next series of stacks of bricks may be unloaded.After unloading of all stacks on the kiln car, the empty car is movedfurther forward in the direction of the previously emptied car, andpasses eventually from beneath the receiv ing station.

As substantially taught by the previously identified US. Pat. No.3,669,283, the first pickup head 24 comprises a first gripping means orgripper frame 25 mounted for multi-directional movement above kiln car Kat the unloading station by means of carriage 18 as, previouslymentioned. Hydraulic cylinder 26 depends from carriage 18, the piston ofwhich is attached to head 24, which in turn includes a preselectednumber of pivotally movable frames 25 each of which supports a gripperpair. Each gripper pair grips the uppermost double-layer course from oneof the stacks when activated. Frames 25 are so connected to the pickuphead 24 as to permit horizontal pivotal movement of the frames throughan arc of at least 90. In unloading a kiln car K, the first pickup head24 is lowered onto the uppermost course of each of the stacks to beunloaded, and grippers (not shown) grip the upper course of each stackalong opposite ends of the rows, compacting the rows thereof in thedirection of their length. The first pickup head 24 is then raised,carriage 18 moved to its second position overlying intermediate table28, and the grippers caused to release the compacted courses onto thetable. While transporting alternate courses between the kiln car and theintermediate table, frames 25 pivot 90 in a horizontal plane so thateach course deposited upon the conveyor has its rows R extending in thesame direction, notwithstanding the alternating header-stretcherorientation of the courses within the stacks initially upon the kilncar. After unloading the uppermost course from the stacks and depositingthem on table 28, first pickup head 24 returns to the unloading positionand similarly successively unloads the next course.

Intermediate table 28 is simply some type of flat stationary surfacesupported by frame 10 or from the floor onto which the bricks aretemporarily placed and may, if desired, include a plurality ofupstanding guides or walls 29 arranged on the table between the coursesplaced thereon to prevent toppling of the bricks as they are positionedby the first pickup head 24.

The second pickup head 30 includes a second gripping means 32, to bediscussed more fully hereinafter, also supported from carriage 18 at theother end therefor for reciprocal movement in a vertical directionsimilar to that of first pickup head 24 by means of a hydraulic cylinder34 or other similar means. As first pickup head 24 is moved from itsfirst position to its second position, the second pickup head 30 ismoved from its first position above intermediate table 28 to its secondor discharge position overlaying offbearing conveyor 32. Therefore, asthe first pickup head 24 is moving one course of bricks to theintermediate table 28, the second pickup head 30 is moving the precedingcourse of bricks from the intermediate table 28 to the dischargeposition above offbearing conveyor 38.

Turning now to FIG. 3 for a more detailed illustration of second pickuphead 30, a plate is attached to the piston of hydraulic cylinder 34 andthus moves up and down in response thereto. A pair of side frame members52, 54 are attached to opposite edges of plate 50 and extendtransversely thereto along the length of and above either side ofintermediate table 28. Cross braces 56 extend between and connect sideframe members 54 and support three activating means in the form of aircylinders 58, 60, 62 thereon.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 in the embodiment herein described, the bricksare placed on table 28 in two ranks of courses, there being four coursesin each rank. Each course in turn includes three rows of brick witheight bricks in each row compacted into side-by-side relationship by thefirst pickup head. It is then desired to regroup this arrangement ofbrick into courses having three rows with eleven bricks in each row, andin such an arrangement as illustrated on conveyor 38 in FIG. 1, therewill be formed two ranks of courses with three courses in each rank, theouter courses in each rank.

having rows of brick with eleven in each row while the middle coursesinclude rows of bricks with ten in each row. The thought is that theoperator can add the extra brick in each row of the middle courses as heis conducting his other operations from spare brick gathered, forexample, from the bricks removed from certain courses to form the tynelayers somewhere along conveyor 38 (not shown).

In order to regroup the brick from the arrangement shown on table 28 tothe arrangement shown on conveyor 38 in FIG. 1, the second pickup head30 includes means for sliding selected columns of bricks in said coursesone way or the other longitudinally of the frame members 52, 54. In thisregard a series of frames 64a-64f are suspended from side frame membersby means of T-hangers 66, and certain of said frames 64b, 64c, and 64einclude upstanding brackets 68, 70, '72 in turn attached to the free endof the pistons of cylinders 62, 60, 58 respectively. End gripper members.32 are formed as gripper sements 32a-322 as illustrated in FIG. 3, andoperatively attached to frames 64af according to any of several wellknown manners. There are basically three types of gripper segments, onebeing the type shown by segments 32a, 32f, which grip the ends of rowshaving eight bricks, a second type 32b, 32e, grip only three brick rows,while the third type 32c, 32d grip five brick rows. Some of thesegments, i.e., 32b, 32c and 32e are slidable relative to the othergripper members in response to movement of one of air cylinders 58, 60,62 which activate frames 64b, 64c and 64e.

In FIG. 3, the segmented grippers 32a-32f are positioned for picking upon intermediate table 28 as is evident that the grippers are set to pickup four pairs of doublelayer courses (see FIG. 1). After pickup head 30is lifted, air cylinders 58, 60 and 62 are activated to slide grippersegment 32b laterally into contact with gripper segment 32a forming apair of double-layer courses with rows of eleven brick. At the same timegripper segment 32e is slid into engagement with gripper segment 32fforming another pair of double-layer courses having eleven bricks ineach row. The two middle gripper segments 32c and 32d are also movedinto engagement with each other which then forms a third pair ofdouble-layer courses, however in these courses, there are only bricks ineach row, to which another brick will be added as describedhereinbefore. The brick are then positioned so as to be set down at thedischarge position with one rank of double-layer courses in trays 40 onoffbearing conveyor 38 and the other rank of courses deposited on sidetable 42. As the offbearing conveyor carries the first rank of coursesaway from the area, the pusher 44 moves the second rank onto succeedingtrays 40 on the conveyor 38. The courses as a result of the regroupingare the proper row size for stacking and strapping without the necessityof breaking the courses down into single rows, as has been necessaryhereinbefore.

Although the specification describes one illustrative embodiment inwhich bricks are regrouped from courses of eight in a row to 11 in arow, it is obvious that other combinations of regroupings may be formedby utilizing the apparatus illustrated hereinabove.

Further, although a preferred embodiment has been described andillustrated, it is obvious that certain modifications and improvementsmight be made to the apparatus and method described hereinabove withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention, the scope of which is to bedetermined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Method of transferring brick from a kiln car, on which the bricks arearranged in a plurality of stacks, each having double-layer courses witha first prescribed number of bricks in each row and column, the bricksin each row having spaces therebetween, to a conveyor on which thebricks are arranged in courses having a second different prescribednumber of bricks in each row and wherein the bricks in each row arecompacted together comprising the steps of:

a. transferring the uppermost course from several of said stacks bysimultaneously gripping said rows at the ends thereof, moving the bricksin said rows together, lifting and moving said courses to anintermediate table;

b. gripping the bricks in said courses deposited on said intermediatetable on the ends of said columns, lifting said courses and moving somebricks row-wise with respect to others to change the rowwise spacing ofthe bricks in said courses; and

c. transferring said courses to said conveyor.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein alternate courses on saidkiln car are arranged with the headers facing perpendicular to theheaders of the intermediate courses, and wherein step (a) includespivoting said alternate courses so that the headers of all coursesplaced on the intermediate table face in the same direction.

1. Method of transferring brick from a kiln car, on which the bricks arearranged in a plurality of stacks, each having double-layer courses witha first prescribed number of bricks in each row and column, the bricksin each row having spaces therebetween, to a conveyor on which thebricks are arranged in courses having a second different prescribednumber of bricks in each row and wherein the bricks in each row arecompacted together comprising the steps of: a. transferring theuppermost course from several of said stacks by simultaneously grippingsaid rows at the ends thereof, moving the bricks in said rows together,lifting and moving said courses to an intermediate table; b. grippingthe bricks in said courses deposited on said intermediate table on theends of said columns, lifting said courses and moving some bricksrow-wise with respect to others to change the row-wise spacing of thebricks in said courses; and c. transferring said courses to saidconveyor.
 2. The method according to claim 1 wherein alternate courseson said kiln car are arranged with the headers facing perpendicular tothe headers of the intermediate courses, and wherein step (a) includespivoting said alternate courses 90* so that the headers of all coursesplaced on the intermediate table face in the same direction.